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Ode To Opening Day

This is a baseball poem I wrote, ODE TO OPENING DAY. Opening Day should be made a national holiday. Where is the problem in that? It is a given. It only makes sense. If one more holiday is one too many, get rid of that ridiculous charade of the Columbus Day holiday. It is a sham I am embarrassed for those that accept it as fact. Very strange. Well, after all that, this poem is a push toward making Opening Day a national holiday. Wait, let's do better than that even, let's make it a Baseball Fete.

Trum Field. Somerville, MA

With Opening Day

Come
the sound of bats

Of balls

The smell of leather

Of
newly hewn grass

The sun on the back

Of
dusty winds

The
imagination moves

Of
possibilities

Of
your team doing best

Of
being on top

Of
leading the way

With
Opening Day

Babe in front of his locker, says

“Hi
kid,”

To
the Babe, everyone is kid

With
Opening Day

Come
my self-declared holiday

No
longer do I wait for
Opening Day

Pronounced

National Holiday

It
is It is mine It will always be

Isn't that the day when children get sick?

Can't
go to school?

When
parents realize how serious this ailment is?

Isn't that the day when the mind can't concentrate?

Loses
its power to steady?

The day the mind wanders hither and yon?

Floating

Roaming

Moving

Shifting

With
Opening Day

The watch consulted

The
mind in the park

Number
3 steps out of the dugout

Seventy
thousand cheers

Rising

Undulating

With
Opening Day

Players
pick up feel

Scratchy
new uniforms

The
stomach jumps

Patters

Meeting with the watch

Train
leaves one hour

What
to do?

Such immense expanse of time?

Players
pulling up their trousers now

Ready to step into shining black shoes

A gleaming
pearl in the starter’s shoe

What
are the umps doing now?

This
moment?

Probably
not at the park

Sure
they are

Where
else to be?

Not
having a leisurely meal

Not
now

Into
the pockets

Yep the
tickets

Sit
down stand
up

Down at the watch

Up to the window the sky

Bright white sphere in ethereal blue

The
wind in the trees is light

An outfielder
glides under a ball

Will
there be any spectacular plays today?

The
shoulders rise

The
blood pumps thump thump

The watch

Still
to wait

Are they
throwing balls around now?

Did Babe get butterflies on Opening Day?

Such
ritual

Opening
Day

A National Holiday

We
must make it so

“Welcome
to Opening Day, kid.”

White
sparkling on emerald green

An
umbrella of cobalt blue

**********************************************************************************Son, Pete Murray with The Babe out beyond the right field fence at The Ball Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

The Babe

As apitcher you are your own coach when you are on the mound. There
might be 50,000 people in the stands, or no one, with one bench yelling
encouragement while the other, discouragement, or not. Whatever the case, you are alone, you are by
yourself, with a job that must be done. It is up to you to get it done.You
must know what adjustments to make if you suddenly find
yourself in a situation where the
ball is not doing what you want it to do the way you want it to
do it. This is an extremely important part of your job, of pitching. You
must learn your game and know it well. At the same time, you must
maintain a calm inner being. You must be relaxed.

Learning
the art
of pitching takes lots of time, study, and infinite patience to be an
effective pitcher. If there is a perfect way to do something, it can be
learned. Learn the perfect way to pitch, and then practice diligently.
Learning how to maintain a calm inner being, being completely relaxed,
is easier than you think.Scroll down for more information on both these pitching aspects.

"If you want to be the best, you must do what the best do."

---Skip Murray

"That which you do not know, the doing will quickly teach you."---Lao Tzu

Baseball players, as is the case with all athletes, perform at
their highest level when they are relaxed. When the mind is
clear the body is body to move freely and easily. When the body is moving freely, the athlete
is able to perform at the highest level.

The question is, how does
the athlete get to the point where he or she is constantly and consistently
competing at that highest level? In other words, how does the athlete get
to the point where his or her mind and body are completely clear and
performing at peak level? Keep on reading, here is your answer.

One highly effective method is
to use subliminal messaging software. This conditions your
subconscious
mind to work with your body at its optimum level. The technique is
simple, you simply watch the proper subliminal message program as
recommended, and your subconscious mind automatically learns to do the
right things
at the right time. It is as easy as that.